


Set it all free

by ElectronicStar



Series: Brutasha Week 2019 [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Brutasha Week 2019, F/M, Rockband AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 16:17:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18742594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectronicStar/pseuds/ElectronicStar
Summary: For the Brutasha Week 2019. Rockband!AU. Bruce falls head over heals for a beautiful girl and Tony tries to hook them up.





	Set it all free

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea after being hella addicted to Scarlett Johannson's song in SingxD I couldn't help but imagine that Natasha's singing this and poof, here it is. Also they're all a bit younger here. Sorry for the lame and fast end but I'm working on this for months now and just wanted to finish it. Maybe I'm gonna write a sec chapter of it.  
> Also posting it for the Brutasha Week 2019. Prompt of the day: Music

Bruce usually didn't go to bars, but he didn't have a choice that night because Tony forced him to go there with him. Again. He had no idea why he let him persuade him.... And as usual Tony got a lot of attention from everyone. After all, it wasn't every day that they got to see a rich guy who also happened to be the CEO of Stark Industries. And Tony loved the attention but for his sake he told everyone to just leave them alone and they surprisingly did.

 

Bruce felt always out of place there. But he knew Tony just did it to cheer him up and he kind of appreciated it. They spent a few hours there and at the question if they could go, Tony suggested to get one last drink before they left. Bruce just agreed, knowing that his friend's gonna bother him more if he said no.

 

Tony led the way to the bar and Bruce followed, but he didn't get far when he suddenly ran into someone. “Oh, I'm sorry!” He quickly said, as he looked down at the red headed woman, he practically tackled. And the moment he saw her jade green eyes, he felt like he could stare at them forever.

 

But he quickly snapped out of it, not wanting to look like a creep and decently looked her over. Her red hair was short and curly and looked so soft, that he wished he could touch them. She was really thin, too. Like healthy thin. Like...forget it. She wore some comfortably looking shorts that reached to her knees and wore a black T-shirt from a band he didn't know. “I'm really, really sorry.” He repeated, talking loud enough so that she could hear him over the music. “Are you okay?”

 

“I'm fine, don't worry.” Even through the music her voice sounded amazing. “You alone here?” She asked then and Bruce needed another second to snap out of his creepy state. “Uh, no. I uh, I'm with a friend.” He answered and looked up for the first time, noticing that he'd lost Tony. He most likely was at the bar already. “And you?” Bruce asked back and he knew if she said she's alone, then he'll sure as hell abandon Tony and make sure she stays save.

 

But of course it's only because there were dangerous men everywhere who'd take advantage of beautiful women like her. “Me too.” She answered and he immediately felt disappointed and embarrassed and very stupid to think he'll abandon Tony like this. “He's grabbing us some drinks.” After that Bruce had no idea what else to say and he became awkward. And that meant he absentmindedly fidgeted with his hands and looked around more. He wanted to keep talking to her and quickly thought of a topic they could talk about but his mind was completely blank.

 

But then fortunately, or unfortunately however you want to see it, Tony came back with two glasses of beer in his hands. “There you are, bud. I was looking for you.” He said and gave him his beer, before noticing the redhead. And Bruce rolled his eyes, when he saw that certain grin on his face. “Hi there.” He greeted, before taking her hand and kissing the back of it. Meanwhile Bruce didn't know if he should puke at Tony's poor flirting or punch him in his face. “Nice to meet you, I'm...”

 

“Tony Stark, I know.” She interrupted him. Of course she knew him, everyone did. “I'm Natasha Romanoff. And you are?” When she looked back at Bruce, he was nervous all over again. Damn he totally forgot to introduce himself! Stupid! “B-Bruce Banner. Hi.” He said and shook her hand. Her skin was really soft, he noticed. “Natasha. What a beautiful name.” Said Tony, continuing his flirting attack even after getting a warning glare from Bruce. “Are you from Russia?”

 

“Yeah, good guess.” Said the redhead in a somewhat teasing tone as if she knew he's gonna say that. Well, her name did sound very Russian...”But you don't have any accent, that's amazing.” Right now Bruce wished he could just make him shut up already. “Thanks. I've been living here for a long time now.” Then she looked through the crowd of people around them and a second later seemed to have found what she's looking for.

 

“I have to go now, my friend's looking for me already.” Then she turned back to the two guys. “Maybe we'll see each other again.” She said and kept looking at him as if it's meant for him only. “I do hope so, Ms. Romanoff.” Said Tony charmingly, not noticing the look she gave him. Bruce noticed that he hasn't said anything for a long time now, but still couldn't figure out what to say. Once again, she made him snap out of his daze by lightly touching his chest —which made his heart beat faster even more— as she went past him. “Bye, Big Guy.” She said and winked at him, before vanishing in the crowd. And immediately Bruce felt stupid for not even saying good bye to her.

 

“Wow.” Said Tony then and Bruce prepared to hear how much he wanted to make a move on her. “I didn't think I'd ever see you having a crush on someone.” Bruce's eyes widened at his words. “W-what?!” His friend laughed and put a hand on his shoulder. “Come on! I saw how you were looking at her! And how you looked at me when I was talking to her.” Damn, was he _that_ obvious? “Just wanted to make sure you really gave her heart eyes there, and I was right!” Not knowing what to say, Bruce just grumbled and drank his beer.

 

“Don't worry, I'll back off. She's all yours.” Yeah, that's what he wished. But he knew that someone like her wouldn't ever think about to like someone like him.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day went as normal as ever. Bruce and Tony worked together in their lab, just talking when it's necessary, until...”Got it!” Said Tony suddenly, grinning at his screen. “What? You solved the problem?” Asked Bruce amazed and went to him to look at his screen, but was shocked at what he saw. That bastard hadn't worked at all! He was googling that girl from the bar! “What the hell are you doing there?!”

 

“I found her on the internet.” He stated the obvious and shrugged. “And guess what I found out.”

“I don't care...” He mumbled, but actually he really wanted to know what he found out about her. “She's in a band.” Tony informed anyway and showed him all the pictures of her playing a black e-guitar with green lightning bolts and a black widow with the rest of her band.

 

Three of the four band members were male and blonde. Different shades of blond, but still...The other e-guitarist was probably the ‘good looking guy’. He had a picture of a hammer on his instrument that looked like Thor’s hammer from the Norse mythology. The one on the bass-guitar looked to be the ‘good guy’ and had a star on his instrument. And the one on the drums was probably the ‘cool guy’ and there were hawks all over his instrument. The band's name was ‘the Avengers’ and that reminded him of the shirt Natasha wore.

 

“Interesting, right?” Asked Tony then. “They even have a gig in a few days. It's something like a talent show for newbies and whoever wins will be able to bring out their first album and become famous.” Bruce hummed as if he didn't care about this, but he'd go there just to see her one last time. “Of course we'll go there and watch them play. Right, bud?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Do you think I'll just forget the fact that you've got a crush on someone? No way, we'll go there, you get to know each other and start dating. That's the plan.”

 

“I can't believe it...” Mumbled Bruce and went back to his work, trying to ignore Tony. “Yeah right, it's unbelievable that you finally found someone!”

 

* * *

 

 

Today's the big day. Today they're gonna play for a few thousand people and hopefully get a recording contract. They've practiced the whole time for this and now they're ready. Now there were just two more bands, before they could play. Natasha was just talking everything through with second guitarist Donald Blake and their bassist Steve Rogers, when their drummer Clint Barton dragged her away. “Clint, what the hell-?”

 

“I have to show you something, Tash!” He just said and pulled her to a perfect place to see the whole audience. “Isn't this the guy you dumped me for?” He asked and pointed to someone. “What are you talking about?” The redhead grumbled, but looked at the direction he pointed at anyway. It took a while, but eventually she found the guys from the bar. Bruce and Tony.

 

“I haven't dumped you, you ran away and I ran into them.” Well, to be honest it wasn't really an accident that she ran into them. She's seen them in this bar a few times already and waited for a good opportunity to talk to Bruce. And she was right, he was a huge dork. But a cute one. “Anyway, do you think I never saw how you looked at him the whole time?”

 

“Shut up.” Was all she said, as she went back to the others. “Something wrong, Nat?” Asked Steve when they came back, but Nat just shook her head. “Not at all.”

 

“Everything's fine, Cap. Tashas crush is just out there.” Said Clint and earned himself Natashas famous murder glare. They all had nicknames Clint gave them. Clint himself was called 'Hawkeye', because he loved archery and is actually pretty good at it. Natasha's called 'Black Widow' because Clint always said she's scary and he's kinda scared of spiders. Donald's called 'Thor' because he did look like a Norse god to him and they all agreed. And Steve's called 'Captain America' just because he's patriotic. “She has a crush?” Asked Thor, who was just as surprised as Steve. “I don't-”

 

“Yeah and I'm sure he's just here to hear her sing. So, how about we change our song?”

 

“What?!” Clint just ignored her and went on. “I think we should play Nat's song. You guys in?”

 

“Clint...” Grumbled Natasha, but it still fell on deaf ears. “I'm in.” Agreed Steve immediately. “Let's do this!” Said Thor and Natasha had no choice but to agree, too. “Whatever...”

 

“Don't worry, he'll love it.” Said Clint and wrapped an arm around his best friend, but immediately got an elbow in his ribs.

 

* * *

 

 

For the umpteenth time Bruce was asking himself why he was there in the first place. He kinda felt stupid for this, but maybe when they're playing they won't see them. Well, actually there were so many people there, it's kinda obvious that they won't see them. It's still making him nervous though. And the worst thing was that Tony was booing everyone off the stage and complained how long it took till the 'real band' came to the stage.

 

Okay, the worst thing was when they actually went on the stage and Tony acted to be like their biggest fan even if he never heard a song from them. They went to their respective places —they even wore the same band t-shirt— and after Natasha greeted the audience and introduced the band the lights went out and she was on the spotlight. It was just a second, but Bruce could've sworn that she looked at him.

 

And she even held his gaze when she began to stomp her foot in time with the drums. Bruce quickly looked down embarrassed, before she began to sing.

 

 _I followed my heart into the fire,_  
got burned, got broken down by desire.  
I tried, I tried but the smoke in my eyes  
left me blurry, blurry and blind.

 

Then the lights went back on and the guys began to play. And now her eyes roamed over the people cheering on them.

  
_I picked all the pieces up off the ground_  
got dirt on my fingers but that's gone now.  
Got the glue in my hands and stick into the plan.  
Stick into the plan that says

_I can do anything at all.  
I can do anything at all._

 

In just a few seconds, she grabbed the guitar that hung behind her back, swung it to the front and joined the others. __  
  


__  
This is my kiss goodbye.  
You can stand alone and watch me fly.  
'Cause nothing's keeping me down,  
gonna let it all up.  
Come on and say right now, right now, right now!  
This is my big hello,  
'cause I'm here and never letting go.  
I can finally see, it's not just a dream,  
when you set it all free, all free, all free!

_  
You set it all free!_

 

Bruce couldn't stop staring at her. The song was amazing, her voice was amazing, **she** was amazing! Uh, they. _They_ were amazing. They played really great together and it looked like they were very good friends. All three guys did the background singing, but Bruce was barely paying any attention to them.

  
_I was a girl caught under your thumb,_  
but my star's gonna shine brighter than your sun.  
And I will break so high, shoot so far  
gonna hit, gonna hit, hit every target.  
  
Make it count this time.  
I will make it count this time.  
  


While she sang her eyes always found his, or was he just imagining it? She couldn't possibly look at him, right? Why would she anyway? Except she's just singing for him. No, he shouldn't read so much into this. They didn't even know each other!!

 __  
This is my kiss goodbye.  
You can stand alone and watch me fly.  
'Cause nothing's keeping me down,  
gonna let it all up.  
Come on and say right now, right now, right now!  
This is my big hello,  
'cause I'm here and never letting go.  
I can finally see, it's not just a dream,  
when you set it all free, all free, all free!

 __  
You set it all free!  
You set it all free!  
You set it all free!  
  


Now came her solo and god was that amazing. She really had talent and when they won't let her win then someone had to die. Of course that was just a joke...During her solo she turned to her band members and he could clearly see how much fun they had together. “Yeah!” Yelled Tony then and Bruce tried everything to ignore him and make sure that people didn't see they're friends. “You guys rock!” The scientist held his forehead when Tony cheered for them as if there's no tomorrow.

 __  
This is my kiss goodbye.  
You can stand alone and watch me fly.  
'Cause nothing's keeping me down,  
gonna let it all up.  
Come on and say right now, right now, right now!  
This is my big hello,  
'cause I'm here and never letting go.  
I can finally see, it's not just a dream,  
when you set it all free, all free, all free!

 __  
You set it all free!  
You set it all free!  
You set it all free!  
You set it all free!  
You set it all free!

Tony went crazy when the song was over. That was probably the most embarrassing experience of his life...He even yelled for an encore and soon enough Bruce wasn't the only one annoyed by him.

 

The rest of the show was pretty boring to be honest, since the best band already played. But what happened next was really unexpected. At least for them. Natasha's band didn't win! Both he and Tony were furious about it but only Tony let everyone know, booing the winners and yelling how their music sucked.

 

Bruce held his forehead, trying to hide his face when Tony dragged him into this and yelled that they preferred the Avengers. “Booo! You guys suck! Even my dead grandma can play better than you!”

 

“Tony, shut up they're gonna kick us out!” Bruce yelled/whispered at his friend, but he kept going until they eventually were kicked out. “Tony, was that really necessary?”

 

“Of course it was! Your girl didn't win and they were the best!” Bruce sighed and looked down to hide his blush. “She's not 'my girl'...”

 

“Yeah, but she can be.” Sometimes Bruce really wondered why he's friends with Tony Stark in the first place...Before he could say anything, Tony looked past him and waved. “Natasha!” He called and Bruce's eyes widened. He was almost afraid to turn around, but it would be rude not to. And then even Natasha and the drummer went to them.

 

And in that moment he realized something and felt extremely stupid for not thinking about it sooner. What if she already had a boyfriend? N-not that it would be that important, but still...”What are you guys doing here?” She asked, but judging by the tone of her voice and how she looked at them, she already knew they're here. “Ah, you know, enjoying some music and stuff.” Answered Tony and nudged Bruce with his elbow. “You guys were the best. Right, bud?”

 

“Uh, yeah. You should've won.” Agreed Bruce shyly and earned a smile from Natasha. “Thanks, but we're not too sad about it.”

 

“Yeah, there's always next time.” Agreed Clint and wrapped an arm around the redheads shoulder. That broke Bruce's heart a bit, but then she pushed his arm off of her. “Yeah, we just need to practice more.” She said and shrugged. “No, you don't need to. You guys are great and that's why I want you to come to Stark Industries tomorrow and we'll have a little talk.” All three of them looked at Tony confused. “Talk about what?” Asked Natasha, while Tony just grinned.

 

“See you tomorrow. Around twelve-ish, okay?” With that said, Tony went to the parking lot, leaving Bruce, Natasha and Clint standing there. What did he plan now? “Uh, I guess see you tomorrow?” Said Bruce and just got a simple “We'll be there.” from Natasha, before he followed Tony to his car. “Tony? What's your plan?”

 

“You'll see.” Was all Tony said and Bruce could only hope that he won't do anything stupid...

 

* * *

 

 

Natasha had absolutely no idea why Tony Stark wanted to talk with them, but they decided to just give it a try and went to the Stark Tower 'around twelve-ish'. A Woman named Pepper brought them to Stark's office and Bruce was there, too. Did they work together?

 

“Guys!” Greeted Tony loudly when they entered the room. He got up from his chair, his arms up in the air. “Lady! Welcome! Please sit down, let's talk business.”

 

“What kind of business?” Asked Clint, but Stark didn't answer and just raised his hand to tell them to be quiet. “First of all: consider me your biggest fan. I have no idea about the music business —yet— but that won't stop me from wanting to help you. I wanna sponsor you.” Everyone in this room —including Bruce— looked surprised.

 

“Are you serious?” Asked Steve eventually, saying what all of them thought. “Of course.” Tony stood up and walked around the office. “You guys have a lot of talent and potential. I love you already. And that's why I want you. I want you to take over the world! Plus an amazing band like you will give me and the company a great image, too. Win win, right? So what do you think? Are you in or are you in?”

 

The band members looked at each other, having a silent conversation with each other. “Well...” Began Natasha. “We need some time to think about it.”

 

“Of course. This is gonna be a big decision, your life will change forever! Take all the time you need! You're welcome to stay as long as you want, I can even prepare some rooms for you.” Was he really telling them they could live here? “Wait what?” Said Bruce then, who obviously had no idea what Tony planned. “Tony, what are you talking about? You want them to live here?”

 

“Sure, why not? I know you guys live in a tiny apartment together, so why not change it to this?” Stark was a really crazy man, but it did sound tempting. “When we're working together it's gonna be easier this way, don't you think? All of your stuff will be here, I'll prepare a room to create your first album, I'll be taking care of your career and you'll be save from crazy fans and paparazzi. You know what? We'll give you some time to talk about it and then you can tell me your answer.” With that said, he pushed a protesting Bruce out of the room.

 

The guys were silent for a moment, trying to realize what happened. “Did you guys hear that?” Asked Thor, who was just as confused as the rest of them. Clint nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah. What do you think about it?”

 

“It could be our chance...” Mumbled the redhead. “But we should ask him what he wants from us in return.”

 

“Well, I wouldn't mind that. Maybe it's gonna work.” Continued Steve. Clint sighed, but had to agree. “And our apartment really _is_ tiny.”

 

“Is anyone else wondering how he knows where we live?” Asked Thor then, while the shook their heads. “Nah. It's Tony Stark we're talking about.” Mumbled Clint, before leaning back in his chair. “I say, let's try it. That's definitely not the worst thing to happen to us and when we don't like his methods we'll just get the hell out of here.” The drummer looked at his team mates questioningly, while they agreed one by one.

 

“Great!” They jumped in surprise when Tony suddenly threw the door open. “I knew you'll be in! You won't regret it! I don't want anything from you, I just want you to stay amazing!” Maybe they should be angry that Tony eavesdropped, but to be honest...they weren't surprised he did. Natasha noticed Bruce slowly following him in, hiding his face behind his hand. It did put a smile on her face, but she wiped it off as soon as it came. “I can let someone fetch your stuff right now.”

 

“Hey, wait.” Said Steve and stopped Tony's enthusiasm. “Isn't this going a bit too fast?”

 

“Not at all! We can't start our little project soon enough. If you ask me that’s not going fast enough! Anyway, do you guys have any more talents that I should know of?”

 

“Well, Nat and I speak a few more languages and play more instruments.” Answered Clint and earned a very interested look from Tony. “Tell me about it.”

 

“Well, I can speak Japanese, Russian, Arabic and Chinese.” Said the archer.

 

“I’ll just name a few. I can fluently speak Latin, Russian, French, German, Chinese, Italian and a few others.” At this Tony and Bruces eyes widened in surprise and awe. “Amazing. And what else can you play?”

 

“Piano, violin and drums.”

 

“Piano and Guitar.” Natasha and Clint answered like it’s the most normal thing in the world to speak and play multiple languages and instruments. Which it was for them. “You guys are crazy talented, I love you.” Said Tony impressed, before standing up. “How about I’ll show you guys where you can stay and in the meantime someone will make the contract?”

 

Nat looked to her boys who nodded, because why not? “Okay.”

 

Tony led the way, dragging the boys with him, while she and Bruce were left standing. “I’m sorry. Tony’s weird sometimes.”

 

“Noticed.”

 

Then they followed the others out, but as soon as they left the room the door of the elevator closed with the boys inside. “Need to be faster!” Called Tony as the door closed and Nat caught a mischievous grin from him.

 

“Looks to me like he’s always weird.” Mumbled Nat and only got an agreeing hum from Bruce. They were quite for a few minutes then. It was a very awkward silence. Nat already thought about what they could talk about, till Bruce broke the silence. “So...Thor, is that his real name?”

 

“Oh, no. It’s just a nickname. We all have one.”

 

“I see.”

 

Nat could hear from his voice that he’s curious about their nicknames and so she answered his silent question. “Clint gave us the names. He always said he looks like a norse god, that’s why he called him Thor. Then this name just stuck with us. Steve is the patriotic one of us and we always call him Captain America to tease him. Clint is very skilled in archery and since he doesn’t miss a target we call him Hawkeye. And I’m Black Widow.”

 

“Black Widow, huh...? Why, do you actually eat men?” He joked and even though she’s heard this so often, Nat couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, don’t worry. Clint’s just afraid of spiders and also thinks I’m scary. Maybe he only picked this spider because it’s very deadly.”

 

“Well, I don’t think you’re scary.”

 

For this Natasha just had to scare him a bit. “Oh, but you should be scared of me, doc. I could crush your skull with a simple peanut butter sandwich.” The redhead was satisfied when she saw him swallowing.

 

Then the doors to the elevator opened and they entered it in silence. He pushed the button and a moment later the doors closed again and the elevator moved up. Maybe she scared him too much? “Wait...how did you know I have a doctorate?”

 

“I didn’t. You look like a doc to me.”

 

“Well, good guess then.” He replied, smiling as if she didn’t threaten him two minutes ago. “Natasha? May I ask how you learned so many things?”

 

She kinda saw this question coming. There were many things she couldn’t talk about now. Not even Clint knew everything about her and they were friends for years. “Let’s just say...I lived in an orphanage and they forced us to learn different languages to find our place in the world. I was always skilled with instruments, so they properly taught me how to play violin and the piano. But then I was sick of this and taught myself the guitar. And when I met Clint he taught me to play the drums, while I taught him to play guitar.” This is all he needed to know. Maybe if they got to know each other more she could trust him with the full story.

 

It would be nice. He was totally her type. She kinda liked dorky but smart guys and he’s the dorkiest and smartest she knew.

 

“Sounds amazing.” He mumbled, while Nat wished she could agree with him. But this place was far from amazing.

 

* * *

 

 

Three months passed since then. The Avengers were high up on the charts with their first album. They lived in the Stark Tower and every band member got their own floor. Tony kept his promise and made sure they looked as cool as possible. They had all the creative freedom they wanted, but also occasionally promoted Stark Industries as promised.

 

Tony even made some contracts for a big video game company —these songs were in their album, too— and now they even had the dates for their America tour already. This guy was really the best that ever happened to them.

 

With Nat and Clints multilingual skills, they've got songs in other languages. And anytime Clint had the singing part, the two best friends just switched instruments, so that Clint won't vanish behind his drums.

 

During this time Nat got also closer to Bruce. Everyone’s already teasing them that they should finally start dating. Well, Natasha's not against the idea and Bruce seemed to like her as well. Nat wanted to make a move on him anyway and then she’ll see how things will go.

**Author's Note:**

> Avengers Album
> 
> FF Dissidia 012 Duodecim – God of Fire (Natasha)  
> FFVII BC – Theme of Elfe (Natasha)  
> Marvel Disk Wars – Tsuki Yabureru! Time to SMASH (Clint)  
> FFVIII/Black Mages – Otherworld (Natasha)  
> ScarJo – Set it all free (Natasha)  
> Green Day – She’s a rebel (Clint)  
> Billy Talent – Devil in a midnight mass (Clint)  
> Billy Talent – Fallen Leaves (Clint)  
> Christina Stürmer – Ich lebe (Natasha)  
> Christina Stürmer – Nie genug (Natasha)  
> Christina Stürmer – Schwarz/Weiß  
> Christina Stürmer – Glücklich  
> Silbermond – Passend Gemacht (Natasha)  
> Silbermond – Verschwende deine Zeit (Natasha)  
> Silbermond – Immer am Limit (Natasha)  
> Silbermond – Durch die Nacht (Natasha)  
> Silbermond – Irgendwas bleibt (Natasha)  
> Silbermond – Das Beste (Natasha) -> Clint&Nat @ Laura&Bruce


End file.
